The World Engine

Gabby tucked her short brown hair behind her ear and nodded a silent thank you to Blue before turning her attention to Green. " I learned to shoot when I was young, so I can fire a weapon no problem if I have to."
Then she gave Cinon a quick smile, "I'm not afraid of heights either. Kind of comes with the territory of being a pilot....well. At least a long time ago anyways..."
 
Gabby turned at the soft tap on her shoulder to see Pink. She was a little wet cheeked from crying as she held up a chip of some sort in her hands. "You busy? I want to show you something."
"Sure," she replied as Pink sank and sat down on the ground. Her eyes drifted into a distant gaze as if she wasn't seeing the observatory anymore. A blank look as if she had gone to a different world completely.
Gabby looked uncertainly at her, trying to understand what she had meant before drifting off. Pink had wanted to show her something, but she wasn't sure how. Maybe it was a touch connection again? Like when Blue had held her hand? She reached out with a tentative hand to touch the chip still in Pink's hoping something would happen.

After a moment it twitched under her fingers making her jump in surprise. The little pins wiggled as it slipped out of her grasp, before scurrying its way over her hand and up her arm. It felt like a bug as it made its way on to the skin of her neck and Gabby fought the urge to whisk it away.
The chip settled onto her neck and she felt a little tug as it attached itself. Whatever the little thing did, it started immediately. A heavy feeling trickled into her limbs and her mind started lose focus. It took her a moment to remember the sensation of feeling sleepy...no...exhausted.
She sank the ground as her eyes drooped until they closed completely.

The scent of wood mixed with a familiar sweet spice tickled her nose, causing her to open her eyes. The massive Observatory room was gone and instead she was standing in beautiful but small cabin. There was a slightly worn couch to her right and a stone fire place with a cheery fire inside. The way the cabin looked....the scent....and the sounds of the fire popping...it was all familiar....yet not. Was she dreaming? Or was this one of Pink's memories. and her emotions too?

"Hello?" she called out into the cabin curiously, "Pink?...... Ethan?"
 
Last edited:
"If you want to reset," began the Warden to Cinon, "just step back through the portal whence you came. Oh, and finding the figures should be easy. You'll always find what you are looking are for me. Trust me."

The Warden snickered to itself, looking at everyone, "You assume there will be puzzles and combat. And while yes, those have happened, it is also not uncommon for those to not. As monstrous invaders have invaded the land, so too has the world been gripped by a disease, ruled by corporations, and ravaged by weather. Things a mere weapon are unable to solve."

It paused, looking at the scales, "And what is it do you intend these figurines on accomplishing? Your wish is enormous, and I am not quite sure on how these figures will help you. The wish will manifest through them yes, but in a way that you can harness it? That I am unsure of. Granted, the figurines never manifest as one think they should, but you must have some sort of plan."
 
"Of course," Gabby replied to pink.
She put down the pad on the arm of the chair and stood up, giving her jumper suit a quick tug. Pink went up the small stair case and she assumed that the cheery girl meant for her to follow. She took the stairs slowly, letting her fingers brush along the wall and enjoying the sensation. The air had a relaxed, peacefulness to it that made Gabby feel at ease and she smiled. How strange it was that this was a dream world and yet felt so real? The wrinkly leather arm chair...the smell of flowers and wood...the tingly taste of mint tea...it all seemed so real. As if she wasnt in Pink's memory but actually there with her in her time and galaxy, wherever that was.

When she emerged into the second floor she found Pink sitting on a neatly made bed facing a dresser. "What else did you want to show me?" Gabby asked, still smiling a little.
 
Gabby grinned excitedly at the adorable fox-like creature, Cody, and sat down on the bed. She and Pink were from different worlds, but she figured love for pets was something that transcended even galaxies. Reaching out slowly she touched her finger tips to the back of his head between his ears. His fur was like silk, so light it almost felt like feathers tickling her. She took Cody up and put him in her lap. His dark purple eyes closed in contentment as he settled into all the attention and petting.

"He really is soft!" she marveled as she kept petting, " It's been a long time since I had a pet.... or anything really. I-I am dead...or was..I'm not really sure what I am now. Since I came to the observatory...some how I've been able to feel...everything..."

Gabby stroked the little creatures incredibly soft fur, remembering how it was she came to be dead. "On my world...the only way to travel is to fly. Our livable continents float in the sky. Below that, there's the Wild. A deadly area with wild animals and seas below. I was a pilot that flew people from one continent to the other...there was an accident on a test flight and I fell. I didn't survive."

She gave Pink a soft smile and scratched Cody behind the ears now. " I didn't know I was dead for awhile and when the fact finally sank in, I tried everything I could...to not...be stuck. I was angry for the first few decades, especially when I had to watch people move on without me. I couldn't sense anything. No warm sun on my skin. No taste of mint tea. I stayed silent and absolutely invisible to every living thing in my world. It took a few more decades but after 70 years or so of wandering, I finally accepted what I am and became numb in other ways."

Cody cocked his head so Gabby could reach under his chin. She chuckled at the little creature and smiled, before obliging. "But since coming to the Observatory, I can feel again. Smell, taste, warmth...I thought I'd never get to have that again. And since meeting you and Blue, Green, Orange....and Cinon too, I've felt happiness again. And to think I could be alive again. To know that all of the feeling would last? That's my wish."
 
Last edited:
Cinon nodded at the Warden's answer before looking over to Ethan and Gabby to respond to his question. Much to his suprise, Gabby was now lying down on the floor next to the Pink Ethan, her warm body twitching very slightly. Full of curiosity, he walked past Green, focused entirely on the warm twoleg.

"Gabby?" He asked quietly, looking at her limp body.

"Bloody stupid twoleg, why are we wasting time here instead of dealing with these puzzles."

Ignoring Cedric, Cinon stopped just short of the sleeping human, cautious of waking her up. With a gentle claw, he reached out to poke her hand.

Instantly, Cedric felt a strange weakness present, like something was just barely feeling Cinon's mind nearby. He had only felt it when the psychic dragons probed for living minds nearby. The strange tingle was felt only by him, not Cinon, one of the few things that worked in that way and not the reverse.

"Touch her again..."

Hmm? Why?

Cinon followed his orders, laying a claw onto her arm again, waiting for a response.

Cedric? Cedriiic?

- - - -

An instant later, Cedric appeared in a place unlike most, or rather unlike Cinons and the dragon that had chased them. He was the only other mind he had ever accessed, and only briefly at that, but both his and Cinon's were black at first. Perhaps there was something different about twolegs' minds. Atleast, that's where he thought he was.

He quickly probed around him mentally, sensing out any mental weaknesses to exploit. Fears, nightmares, deep self-doubts, anything would work, and they were all present, but far off. Something was keeping them distant from him, even in the spaceless void he was standing in. He knew that a sleeping mind was active in the dream world, one just slightly separate from the mental one, but he couldn't even pull Gabby to him. There was some... greater power, for lack of a better word, than him present.

He twisted his paw on the "ground" of the void, wherever he actually perceived the ground atleast, and a patch of grass dotted with wildflowers sprouted our from underneath. It seemed that his other powers still worked here. Within a few seconds, the patch grew out to a circle several times longer than him in radius. A moment later and polished white and black granite stepping stones came, circling around the center and stretching out just past the grass in what he would have as the four basic directions. Stepping back, a small marble fountain grew from the center, ornately carved with the legends of Attika, the creator, herself. It seemed fitting, given the quest they were on.
 
Last edited:
"Mhm. I really never had one as a kid. Pets were expensive and rare. Most of the creatures on my world wanted to eat you rather than befriend you," Gabby replied as she took up the mug from Pink.
There was a blue liquid inside that fizzled orange bubbles on top. With a curious sniff, she took a moment, then tipped the cup to her lips. The drink was strong and immediately took her breath away with its spice. Coughing a little, she swallowed the potent drink with a wince and then took a deep breath.
"That...." she laughed with a little wheeze, "...really is some strong stuff! What in the Wilds, is-"
Her question was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a man with a kind face wearing a suit. He looked to both Pink and Blue with a nod. "There are new and uninvited guests in the network."
Then he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared, leaving behind only a wisp of smoke.
Gabby looked at the two of them. She'd only had two sips of the powerful drink...surely that wasn't enough to make her see someone appear and disappear....at least not yet.
"Was that another friend of yours?," she asked, trying to assure herself they had seen it too, "And...there's an uninvited guest..?"
 
Last edited:
She hadn't expected Blue to take off so quickly again. One second she was standing with Pink and the next she was flying.
Flying. Wind jetting through her hair...eyes wide....finger tips tingly... her heart would have been pounding with the thrill of it...if she had a pulse. She closed her eyes for just a moment, feeling the air buff against her cheeks and free feel of the sky.
The exhilaration was like this every time, from her first flight....to her last. It had been so long since she had felt anything like it her eyes became watery. When she opened them, they had been flanked by wild looking birds and strange flying machines. Beaches, and oceans, even jungles passed below. Gabby craned her neck trying to take it all in as she laughed with the thrill.
When they finally stopped and Blue sat them down on a rocky outcrop, she could see what...she assumed...was city in the distance. Whether these places were in his home world or not. she didn't know. She looked out over the city and then back at Blue only to realize something strange was going on. Blue's eyes had turned grey and he was staring at her.

"Prett-Gabby. How much do you know about... me?" his eyes flashed with the final word, glowing bright. And how much do you know about this planet?" He thought for a bit before asking one final question. "And whats going on... In the waking world?"

This was not Blue. Another part of Ethan maybe? Even his demeanor was different than the others. Gabby looked to him curiously."You're not Blue..." she said as she observed, "But you must be a part of Ethan...? "

She glanced out out the city, and then back to the mysterious Grey eyed personality. "I don't know much about this planet...only that it's what Ethan....what all of you are trying to restore. It was destroyed in a way I don't fully understand. Ethan came to a place called the Observatory. We're all here..well sort of. The Observatory seems to be this different dimension...where if we face trials we can have a wish granted. Any wish. Ethan...well the 4 of him...he wished for his galaxy back. Which I can only guess includes all of this too."
Gabby gestured to the stunning view before her and gave Grey a smile, "Are you a personality of Ethan too? You don't have a separate body...are you trapped here.."
She slipped her hand over her mouth and ducked her head, realizing how her curiosity could be coming off as rude prying. "Sorry, I haven't had this much conversation in awhile."
 
"Nothing. Gr." Cedric growled shortly, like punctuation. He followed into the kitchen, carefully observing each and every detail of the design around them. Many, many things were simply too strange to recognize, but the kitchen was much, much more familiar.

The smell of food was present, but not interesting to him. He had no need to eat, and Cinon did plenty enough of that for the two of them. Cedric went next to Pink, sitting on the floor with his head just below her shoulder level.

He focused on his own creation. A scroll appeared on the counter-top, unrolling itself before Pink. On it was a depiction of thirteen dragons, seven in the top and five below. Draconic text untranslated by this realm covered the page, in many colours and metals.

"This is the scroll of Great Äncients, immortals, an old legend. The Ancients, the ones who die, keep it safe as our history. Supposedly they came from the start of time, children of mythical magic rocks, and went to live alongside the humanoids, your type. The ones above were guardians, the ones below tormentors. The twolegs killed all the tormentors, and went on to kill the other dragons who would not submit. The guardians, in their infinite wisdom, gave themselves to end their war. That is the short version, at the very least."

On the page, most of the dragons disappeared, but one grew. A rose, white, and gold dragon, fierce and beautiful, covered the scroll.

"Askaa, the Creator. A dragon that could create life, often called "The Mother". That is the one we are going to see in our world, for our wish. The Äncient could grant me freedom, a body of my own. That is our wish. At this time I can think of no other issue more pressing."

The scroll cleared itself, the ink sinking in like water.

"If you have no other information for me on your world, I see no reason to remain in your... "Father Moon" mind."
 
Gabby listened to Grey's story and while some parts she didn't fully understand, some of it was clear to her and it echoed her own experience. She knew what is was to be...trapped...completely disconnected...She had been that way for 70 of her worlds years. But Grey...Grey had not only witnessed first hand the destruction of his own world, but had been a ghost of sorts himself for far longer than she could have imagined. No wonder his hands were shaking.
She let him take her hand. Some sign of acknowledgment...and some feel of existence would have been a comfort to her and she knew it would be the same for Grey. Though what she felt was Blue's fingers under hers, they had a different sort of a grip. Gentle yet firm.
"...My brains a bit slow, did you say 4 of me?"

"It's okay," she replied as she looked at Grey, "I did say four. Blue, Pink...Green, and...Orange. The four of you...well, I suppose five of you, are here at the Observatory."

He'd asked as if he were confused...as if 4 wasn't the right number. "How many of there were you originally, Grey?" she asked quietly.
 
"Food? You want me to give you food?" Cedric would have laughed had he not been himself. Instead he only stared stoically at Pink.

"I imagined twolegs would have been more clever than Cinon."

He produced a set of wooden slats, each holding a dish ranging from loaves of bread covered in nuts, berries, and honey to sliced liver with a rub of salt and some sort of foreign spice topped with cheese curd.

"I will not be joining your "feast", no. Are Gabby and - "Blue" doing something more important?"
 
She wasn't sure what happened to Grey, only that whatever had caused him to faint must have been severe, and the results profoundly heart breaking. She sat with him and kept his hand. Nothing she could say or do could help him work through whatever had happened other than staying and keeping a hold of his hand as he cried.

"Th-...There...u-u-h-h-hsed to be five... Red... Red died."

Gabby understood now. There had been another piece...another fragment of Grey. Somehow he had died. It was worse than losing a family member...he'd lost apart of himself somewhere along the way and didn't even know it till now. When she died it had taken her a long time to fully understand how she had been ripped from the world. And she had only died once. Ethan had the potential to die 5 times...like someone chipping away at his soul instead. Her pain had ended at the moment of her death, Ethan would feel his loss for an eternity.

Or perhaps not.

"I'm so sorry, Grey," she whispered

She knew the words couldn't even begin to ease any pain, but she said them anyways. She let him cry a bit longer and then gave his hand an encouraging squeeze. "There's something we can do though. We can fix this. The Observatory...the World Engine grants a wish. If all of you wish for your galaxy to come back as it was. Wouldn't Red be restored as well?"
 
(OOC: Mainly posting to announce that Korruption has dropped out of the RP. Don't rush your scene though.)

The fourth star on the door abruptly flickered out of existence along with the fourth member. The Warden made some snarky comment, but nobody was really conscious enough to hear it. That was about as much time as the Warden had during the time difference between the two realities. It knew that one by one members were receding back into another's world, which was humorous to the Warden. It almost seemed like hiding from their inevitable fate, although the real reason was unclear. The second figurine of time was interesting however. More time was always good, but what was it they were hoping to accomplish with the extra time? It had already mentioned that once the portal opened the figurines could not be removed. This to the Warden, seemed like a waste. They didn't even know whether they needed more time, so why risk another detrimental figure?

The Warden would have mentioned something, except time was a bit blurred and everyone was a bit brain-dead to really take heed to its advice. Sure, there was "Green," but it had gotten a bit tired of Ethan's seemingly... bizarre... nature. It had given enough advice, enough questions, enough answers. The time was nigh, and either these fools would die, or come back limping. That it was sure of. Such a large wish with such rash behavior. It even bet that with their focus on puzzles and combat that the group would open fire on a group of innocents. Towns were common, cities even. Not everything was hostile. Or maybe they'd just hide in their little world until they starved to death, or died of old age. Either that or the Warden forcefully "evicts" them.
 
Cedric looked to the plates, tiny drinking vessels, and metal objects sitting on the counter disinterestedly. Looking back at the table, it was now set just as described, each place an even distance from the other. "I do not see the point in this activity." He said flatly, his annoyed undertone fully masked by his personality.
 
Last edited:
Gabby smiled a little at Blue, who seemed to have reverted back to his old self and sat comfortably in an armchair with a book in the living room. She couldn't read the title of the book in his hands, which had strangely come into more focus. When had that happened?
Voices from the kitchen caught her attention and her curiosity flared. Wandering out of the living room, her heavy boots made soft thuds in the hallway as she walked past the dining area and into the kitchen.
Pink was scurrying around preparing foods which smelled incredible. Even if it wasn't real, the smell was clear enough to make even her long dormant appetite grumble with interest. She took in the scents with a deep breath for a moment and then saw that the dragon was there as well. She hadn't spoken much to him...but it was important to get to know everyone. Information about each other would be helpful in the upcoming trials if they were to survive...the dragon was taller than she had previously thought and broader shouldered...his scales were lighter in color and he...carried himself with a different sort of attitude. He almost appeared annoyed. Cinon had mentioned something about "us or we" earlier in passing....perhaps there was more to the dragon Cinon than what appeared. Just like Ethan.
She hesitated for a moment before approaching him, but then took a deep breath and gave him a nod.
"Hi there," she said evenly, "You look familiar, but then again...not. Are you Cinon? If not, my name is Gabby."
 
Last edited:
"I am Cedric, Cinon's... brother. I already know your name." Cedric created an animal pelt at the foot of the table, a spot without a setting, and moved to it, facing the line steaming food down the center.

"Are the other Ethan parts with you, Gabby?"

- - - - -

Cinon poked Gabby again, trying to get some sort of reaction out of her.

Ceeedriiiic?

No response, something must have happened to him. Something happened to Cedric just like when that monster dragon was after them - Grekan. He remembered it vividly, the piercing noise that grated at his ears, his evil voice shouting at him in his head

'I'm going to eat you alive... Come back hatchling!'

Shaking his head, he tried to forget it again, to focus on what was happening around him. That's what Cedric always said, just focus on one thing at a time. One thing at a time...

The scale looked the same, he guessed, and two of the Ethans were still there. The other two leg was gone! They left too! Ok... ok. The Warden was still there, and he felt like it was unhappy.

"Warden..." He paused, not really sure of what the warden would do to the sleeping twolegs. "Gerr. Nevermind."

No, no, no! Not the Warden! Stupid! What would Cedric do...
 
Gabby raised a brow at the curt tone of the dragon. This was most definitely not the dragon, Cinon, she'd met in the Observatory.
Cedric...Cinon's brother....hadn't been with them there physically. But her had known her name.
Had he been there somehow? Maybe trapped similarly to Grey? Only in Cinon's head instead.
But where was Cinon?

She snapped out of her own thoughts and looked to Cedric. He didnt seem in the mood to talk or explain anything. She wouldn't expect him to want to if his life was similar to Grey's and her own experience too.

Sighing, Gabby took a seat next to the grumpy dragon and gave him a heavy look. "No, only Pink and Blue are here that I know of. But then again I can't sense who is coming and going anyways," she said calmly, "But it might be good for us to all talk a little. I assume you have a wish and we'll undoubtedly all need to work together to get it. Even if the conversation is brief, any shared information could be helpful in making a plan. It may even save your life. Trust me....a painful death is not something you want to go through."
 
Cinon took the chip in his open paw, staring at the strange thing intently. On his neck, huh? Reaching around, he dropped the thing onto his back, feeling the little legs popping out and moving it to position like a big cockroach or scale beetle. A moment later, something poked him in the neck, followed by a growing tingling sensation along his spine. The sensation kept growing however, becoming uncomfortable then outright painful. It still didn't stop, becoming an agonizing burning spreading in his spine and head. Darkness flooded his vision, and with a short roar of pain, he blacked out.

- - - -

Cedric felt something prying at "his" neck, an ethereal feeling that indicated it was not in fact his feeling but Cinon's. The feeling did not dissipate quickly, instead growing in intensity. Green and Orange's appearance took his attention briefly, him noting the correlation immediately.

"What did you do to Cinon?" He demanded, the feeling in his neck becoming even stronger. His lip twitched as it became extremely painful, his head filling with daggers and entire face breaking to a scowl in agony.

Finally, the feeling stopped, pain leaving his body once more.

"What... Did you do... To Cinon?" He demanded again.

- - - -

Cinon woke up by a warm fire in a cozy room, just like his room in the mansion, but his head was killing him. He didn't feel like this in Cedric's world normally...

Slowly, he got up from lying down to sit, and looked around the room. It was not his mansion (#NotMyMansion), but some strange mansion someplace else.

Groaning, he stood and walked out of the warm room to a hallway.

Green noted the rage in his voice and puzzled as to what walls Cedric had put up to block something like Father Moon. "Ask him yourself, though. Before you rip me to shribbons, he came here willingly, we did not force him." He said, in a calm and cool voice as though nothing happened, pointing to the hallway.
Click to expand...

Cedric growled at Green, a low, rumbling growl like a heavy car on a gravel road. Without saying anything, he walked into the hallway, dissipating into a smoke that collected and dissapeared on Cinon's scales.

Within, he found the cause of the damage. The fortifications he had put up around Cinon's mind, literal walls covered in moss and ivy, had been torn down, a strong mental power puncturing through the red brick. Carefully, he removed the wall around the force, reforming it with more mental energy and a large gate.

A moment later, and he reformed next to Cinon, looking over him for visible damage on his imagined body. Nothing.

"Hi Cedric." Cinon mumbled, his head still feeling like a ballista had fired through it.

"What are you doing here? Who did this?"

"Oh, Green invited me in and gave me this thing that gave me a headache and now I'm here."

"Hm. Fine, follow me."

Cedric turned and walked back into the dining room, taking his seat next to Gabby with Cinon by his side. Cinon, of course, had completely forgot about the headache and was staring at the array of food slack jawed. A bead of drool leaked from his mouth before he quickly licked it back.

Cedric glared at Green as he ignored the bowl placed before him.

Cinon looked down at the bowl for a few seconds. The smell was awful, but he was pretty hungry, and the bowl was pretty small... In one quick move, he lifted the entire bowl with his mouth, catching the upper edge on his upper teeth as he tipped the entire thing back into his mouth, swallowing his mouthful quickly and dropping the bowl back down just a little to fast, chipping the bottom on the plate.
 
Last edited:
"Hah! Planning? You haven't even been to the world yet," the Warden said, just right before everyone went off to their dreamland. It supposed that a meet and greet was in order. After all, team-building would be important. Still, it felt like some of its time was being wasted, although...

Nobody was around, nobody conscious at least. On that note, it could get away with a few things with nobody around. Nothing with the device however. Rules were rules, and ones that were broken were to be paid back towards the end. Still, being the guardian of the World Engine also made it want to create its own worlds. To be fair, it already had that desire before it got into this mess. There was so much that nobody knew, but honestly, would telling anyone even matter? No, no it wouldn't. Not to mention there were even more rules regarding it. The Warden did not want to be the one paying back the debt.

From within its body, the Warden produced a small model of the very device the group was using. Not as small as a figurine, but more as a large playset. It set it down, the device now displaying a small holographic version of the world. Not a real world of course, but the image mimicked that of the product of the real device. The Warden used different figurines however. To be spoiled on what the group's world was would be a shame. It tried different combinations, watching what the world was and did, along with its inhabitants from time to time.

The Warden still had to wonder what the group was "planning." Preparing may be a better word, but a plan without information? That was doomed to fail.
 
Gabby laughed at the gentle ribbing Blue was getting from the others.

It amazed her that despite being technically all the same person, how the four of them seemed so much like siblings. She had missed that kind of camaraderie with her own sister, Capella. They used to get into all sorts of trouble together, but always stuck up for each other when it counted most. Her death had probably hit her sister hardest of all. Every now and then she would stop by her sister's room in the Elderly Care facility on her home continent. It hadn't been one day too long ago that she had stopped by and Capella's room had been empty. Picture frames filled with old memories...worn blankets...and her dusty music box...and her sister were all gone.
As sad as her sister's passing had been, she was glad for Ethan. Despite Ethan's trials... his personalities had each other to lean on and take care of.... And Grey had them too in a way. Seeing them talk brought back the warmth of belonging to a family, even if it was just for a little while. For that she was content and grateful.

"No need to disagree with her all at once guys." despite this blow to his ego, blue kept it rolling and continued the subject of great views. "So gabby, there's this one place that is swamp on the surface for miiiiles. Boring old murky swamp, "
"Oh yeah! And then you look under it and its this wonderful intricate ecosystem with like root dwellers and bottom leapers and some really strange green peoples."

"That sounds amazing," Gabby replied in excitement, "You 4 must have had some fun adventures while traveling.....and seen so many amazing things. That's part of the reason I became a pilot. There's always something new to see in the sky and things are rarely as they appear. It would be incredible to see what you've seen."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top